Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a minor stage character, a ‘walk-on’; thus fem. var. supess.

1839		Eve. Star (N.Y.) 8 Aug. 2/2: Three hopeful young rascals, who had been recently employed as Supes at Niblo’s Garden, robbed the Treasury box [etc.].
1849		N.Y. Daily Trib. 30 Nov. 1/5: They complain of the bad conduct of some of the soldier supes of Otello who go into the amphitheatre after they have finished their duties on the stage and cut up shindies.
1856		G.G. Foster N.Y. by Gas-Light (1990) 168: The shop-girls, the ‘supesses’ from the Bowery and Chatham theaters.
1856		Tiffin Trib. (OH) 14 Nov. 1/7: Captain of the ‘supes’ ath the Albany theater.
1872		N.Y. Times 19 May 5/1: That new supe you’ve took on don’t seem to amount to much.
1881		Bulletin (Sydney) 9 Apr. 9/3: The part of the Sentinel had to be given on a moment’s notice to a ‘supe,’ who stipulated that the dialogue should be all cut out.
1883		G.W. Peck Peck’s Bad Boy and His Pa (1893) 290: A supe is a fellow that assists the stars and things.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 82: Supe, stage slang for supernumerary.
1886		Sporting Times 3 Apr. 7/5: I was born to become a great actor, / [...] / Alas, I’m only a ‘supe’.
1889		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 14 Dec. 2/3: It was only at this juncture that the audience recognized [...] the noisy disturbers in the pit as ‘supes’.
1893		S. Crane in Truth (N.Y.) 25 Nov. in Stallman (1966) 26: [stage direction] (Splash made in pan of water by club in hands of supe.).
1910		H. Hapgood Types from City Streets 350: He ain’t no actor, either. He’s a supe, that’s what Jeffries is.
1919		H.C. Witwer Alex The Great 311: I ain’ goin’ around rescuin’ nutty dames, beatin’ up supes [...] no more!

2. (US campus) a toady, a sycophant.

1871

L.H. Bagg Four Years at Yale 48: Supe, a toady, a boot-licker. Used also as a verb.